Alberta as Energy “Super Power”

Blog Post | Elizabeth May
August 30 2010

An item in the Victoria Times Colonist caught my attention the other day — “It’s booze, gambling that powers Alberta.” Amazing that with all the alleged oil wealth that drives the economy, Alberta’s government actually gets more money from taxes on alcohol and on provincial government-run gambling than from royalties on fossil fuels.

It used to be something of a joke in Nova Scotia that the revenues from the Liquor Commissions were larger than royalties from the off-shore. The idea that the same is now true in Alberta is astonishing. In fact, Alberta is running a deficit of $4.8 billion.

In my keynote at last weekend’s BGM I contrasted the rhetoric about Canada being an “energy super-power” with the reality that we are “energy lackeys.”

The contrast between Norway and its heritage fund, with $400 billion set aside, and Alberta with its deficit is striking. Norway has a carbon tax. Alberta fights climate action.

Meanwhile, Canadians are told that we benefit from oil wealth. How is it this giant “engine of growth” has fallen behind the revenues from booze and gambling?